Markets erased gains and traded in the red in mid-morning trades. Earlier in the day, Nifty hit a seven-week high of 6,181. The Sensex touched a high of 20,651 on firm cues from Asian peers.
However, with weakness in banking, auto and realty stocks, the indices dropped below the dotted line.
The Sensex slipped 54 points to 20,508.
The Nifty was down 12 points at 6,145.
Asian markets were trading higher today. Nikkei jumped 1.5% on manufacturing gorwth and a declining Yen. Other markets in Asia too were in the positive zone. US bourses rallied on Monday as encouraging signs about the outlook for manufacturing around the world prompted investors to inject new money into the market.
BSE bankex shed 1.5% at 13,252. Heavyweights, ICICI Bank and SBI shed 2% each at Rs 1,122 and Rs 2,768, respectively. Indusind Bank, Canara Bank, IDBI Bank and HDFC Bank were down 1.5% each.
Auto and realty indices were down marginally. However, the FMCG index jumped nearly 1%, followed by oil & gas and IT.
Bajaj Auto slipped 2% to Rs 1,446. Relince Communications, Hindalco and Bharti Airtel dipped over 1% each.
Other losers included Maruti Suzuki, DLF and Hero Honda.
Meanwhile, Hindustan Unilever jumped 1.2% to Rs 317. Jindal Steel and Reliance Infrastructure added over 1% each.
ITC, Wipro and Reliance were also trading in green.
BSE market breadth was marginally positive. Out of 2,449 stocks traded, 1,233 advanced while 1,120 declined.
Top Section
Explore Business Standard